What are some games that fit any or all of the above descriptions? The Max Payne, Thief, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series all come to mind, but I'm looking for some others.

mentor07825

09-02-2012, 10:14 PM

Deus Ex
Super Meat Boy
The Binding of Isaac

SirKicksalot

09-02-2012, 10:16 PM

Cryostasis, the first Quake (it holds up so well!), Undying, Jericho. Kane and Lynch 2 is a masterpiece of nihilistic violence and perhaps the most fucked up mainstream game of this generation. Dead Island, despite the tropical location, is very unsettling IMO.

Ignorant Texan

09-02-2012, 10:17 PM

Anything from Ice Pick Lodge(Pathologic, The Void and Cargo! The Quest For Gravity{you don't get much darker or weirder than these}), any thing from Frictional(The Penumbra series(which move from almost-action horror, to weak as a kitten survival horror) and Amnesia) and Zeno Clash(weird Argentinian brawler) all spring immediately to mind.

Cargo! The Quest For Gravity{you don't get much darker or weirder than these}

Is that game dark (aside from kicking man-babies)? The only experience I have with that game was watching TB's overview, which was enough for me. It seemed to have a playful vibe to it.

Vdaxzter

09-02-2012, 10:29 PM

Thanks for the replies so far. I tried to edit the title of the thread, but the site isn't allowing me to do so fully. I'm also looking for games that fit into the "noir" genre.

Ignorant Texan

09-02-2012, 10:29 PM

Is that game dark (aside from kicking man-babies)? The only experience I have with that game was watching TB's overview, which was enough for me. It seemed to have a playful vibe to it.

Well, it ain't exactly light(I didn't want to use a SPOILER WARNING, but when you make it to the end, it's not exactly all sunshine and flowers) but, yes, why I used or. Okay, so two of Ice Pick Lodges games are dark and gritty, all three qualify as weird.

mentor07825

09-02-2012, 10:32 PM

Thanks for the replies so far. I tried to edit the title of the thread, but the site isn't allowing me to do so fully. I'm also looking for games that fit into the "noir" genre.

First thing that sprang to my mind is the Deus Ex series. You can give Invisible Warfare a miss, but the rest is amazingly good.

Scumbag

10-02-2012, 12:23 AM

Cryostasis

If you can get it to run smoothly this most certianly.

E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy perhaps, even if the translation is a bit goofy and the opening hard to get into.

Althea

10-02-2012, 12:26 AM

No one has mentioned The Witcher? Really?

Casimir Effect

10-02-2012, 12:30 AM

Sacrifice. Lots of wibbly wobbly things going on in that. Great game too.

Second The Witcher. It exudes grit.

Heister

10-02-2012, 12:32 AM

Condemned.

Althea

10-02-2012, 12:34 AM

There's also:
Fallout 3 + NV - Less visually dark (although they can be), more to do with moral grays and stuff like that, a lot of the darkness is in the little details. Definitely qualifies as 'weird'
Hunted: The Demon's Forge - Very dark, possibly quite gritty, full of blood. A little weird, too.
Dragon Age: Origins - It tries. It really does. It definitely hits dark and gritty, but it feels a little like it tries too hard to be like that.

Uh... I forgot the others I was going to mention.

Scumbag

10-02-2012, 12:41 AM

Just thought also:
The Suffering (the first one that is). A game where its questionable if what goes on is really happening.
Its been about 9 or so years since I played it so gameplay wise it may be shit, but some of the content in that was really bloody nasty if I remember correctly.

DaftPunk

10-02-2012, 12:42 AM

Manhunt series are epitome of gritty,weird,dark..gruesome,sick,brutal xP

SirKicksalot

10-02-2012, 12:50 AM

Just thought also:
The Suffering (the first one that is). A game where its questionable if what goes on is really happening.
Its been about 9 or so years since I played it so gameplay wise it may be shit, but some of the content in that was really bloody nasty if I remember correctly.

It's a competent 3rd person shooter which you can also play in kinda floaty first-person. The monsters were designed by Stan Winston. Nasty game indeed.

Vdaxzter

10-02-2012, 05:10 AM

Just thought also:
The Suffering (the first one that is). A game where its questionable if what goes on is really happening.
Its been about 9 or so years since I played it so gameplay wise it may be shit, but some of the content in that was really bloody nasty if I remember correctly.

I've really wanted to play The Suffering. Unfortunately, both games in the series are incompatible with Windows 7.

Colonel J

10-02-2012, 01:48 PM

The Suffering deserves a GOG reissue to get it working on Win 7. Genuinely creepy and dark.

As does The Thing. I recall that the controls / camera were a bit shit but otherwise I really enjoyed it - it did very well in creating the paranoid atmosphere of the John Carpenter film. And worth a look for how it tried to bring some original (for the time) twists to the survival horror shooter - e.g. giving you AI team members who may be harbouring the creature.

Edit: others, having seen your edit.
Chronicles of Riddick (SF noir)
Gemini Rue
and LA Noire? I've not played it so not sure how gritty it is but looks to be in the James Ellroy / LA Confidential hardboiled noir genre.

edit edit: and Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth

Drake Sigar

10-02-2012, 02:44 PM

edit edit: and Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth
Finally!

10 char

Sarlix

10-02-2012, 02:50 PM

kingpin: Life of Crime

Feldspar

10-02-2012, 02:59 PM

Limbo. Yes, it's dark in that most of the screen is black, but it's also weird and creepy. A small boy alone searching for his sister, targeted by adults with weapons, vicious traps, not to mention the evil brain maggots and that spider.

Save for SILENT HILL 3!!! If you haven't played that one, all I can say is it has a really really... REALLY bitter ending... makes you wonder why don't you just kill yourself.

The description also fits the game I'm working on right now (link on my signature). I'm aiming to make a really disturbing "horror" game, but my goal is not to use monsters to make it "disturbing."

duff

10-02-2012, 07:31 PM

No one has mentioned The Witcher? Really?

The Witcher is probably the darkest game I've played. Some of the moral choices can be quite ambigious, it can feel like there is no 'good' option.

Memph

10-02-2012, 07:33 PM

Well the ones that came to my mind have already been mentioned...

Save for SILENT HILL 3!!!

I was gonna give Silent Hill 2/3/4 a shoutout. It don't get much darker & weirder than those really.
Playing 2 even now still creeps me out.

Albeit full-blown action-fare, aren't the Kane and Lynch games supposed to really go for the grit?
Also Dead Space 1 & 2, I guess. Definitely dark, definitely grim & gory, though a bit over the top with the claret sometimes.

Kaira-

10-02-2012, 09:29 PM

I was gonna give Silent Hill 2/3/4 a shoutout. It don't get much darker & weirder than those really.
Playing 2 even now still creeps me out.

The original is still quite good, even though dated and looking ugly as sin. It's a shame Shattered Memories never got to PC, I'd say it's on the same level as SH2.

Voon

11-02-2012, 03:28 AM

The original is still quite good, even though dated and looking ugly as sin. It's a shame Shattered Memories never got to PC, I'd say it's on the same level as SH2.

Good thing I have A Wii for that. Though, I couldn't find it in retail...

There's always Dolphin!

sabrage

11-02-2012, 03:37 AM

The original is still quite good, even though dated and looking ugly as sin.
If anyone with a PS3 is thinking about picking this up, it has a rather gamebreaking sound glitch when you use the pistol (at least the physical copy does, I have no idea about the one on PSN.)

Shane

11-02-2012, 03:37 AM

Mcgee's Alice games. Yume Nikki.

gganate

11-02-2012, 04:35 AM

Vampire the Masquerade, but good luck finishing it without running into a game breaking bug.

Vdaxzter

11-02-2012, 04:42 AM

Vampire the Masquerade, but good luck finishing it without running into a game breaking bug.

The old stuff just reminds me how watered down the modern mass market is.

Ignorant Texan

11-02-2012, 06:05 AM

Don't the unofficial patches basically fix that issue?

The unofficial patch by Wesp5 is extremely stable. http://www.patches-scrolls.de/vampire_bloodlines.php#79 I didn't crash once using it.

Voon

11-02-2012, 03:32 PM

Yume Nikki.

Isn't that a bit overkill? I mean, I don't know about you but that, other than Amnesia, is one of those games that I consider nightmare fuel. Not to mention Modoka. Brrrr....

JackShandy

11-02-2012, 03:45 PM

Oh, Solium Infernum? I'd mostly just second The Void if you're honestly looking for weird, dark and gritty, though.

Vdaxzter

11-02-2012, 04:27 PM

Isn't that a bit overkill? I mean, I don't know about you but that, other than Amnesia, is one of those games that I consider nightmare fuel. Not to mention Modoka. Brrrr....

I can't seem to find any information on a game by the name "Modoka." Can anyone help me out?

Voon

11-02-2012, 04:49 PM

I can't seem to find any information on a game by the name "Modoka." Can anyone help me out?
Whoops. Mixed up the names again. It's Monoko. And that's my nightmare fuel from Yume Nikki. Want to look it up? Be my guest. She's creepy as fuck

Oh, is it a character from Yume Nikki? I was thinking you referring to a different game entirely.

Pertusaria

11-02-2012, 06:56 PM

The Alice is Dead series is quite dark and weird by the standards of free Flash games. It won't have you hiding under the bed, but it has interesting plot twists and some gruesome puzzles. I haven't finished the third one because of a bug, but this may have been fixed - I haven't tried it in a while.

Discworld Noir plays with the clichés of noir films and books in a highly amusing way, but it isn't really that dark - probably not what you're looking for.